Edmonton has so many great restaurants — it might be our favourite thing about the city. But aesthetically, many are just…nice. They’re welcoming, and functional, but when you leave, you only talk about the food.
We’re not saying all restaurants should have ultra-mood setting ceilings like Fu’s ocean of red lanterns, but when it comes to doing something distinct, more places could follow Fu’s take-a-chance lead. Fu’s new (as of this summer) location took what worked well at the old spot and expanded. The cozy, kitschy entranceway is now a long hall with shelves of retro tech that could double as a small pawn shop full of old stereos, tiny tube TVs, a Pac-Man phone and eight-track tapes (look it up, younger readers).
Oh, and more secret doors please. We only know of one other in the city, at Alchemy, but Fu’s 7-Up vending machine door is more fun, and the (very stylish) hosts encourage you to open it yourself.
Old stereos line the back wall (we assume they aren’t load bearing). And hanging yellow ’70s lanterns light hair salon chairs with old-school steamers for a stylish photo op on your way to the bathrooms.
Reading all this back, it seems like a mishmash of random retro things that don’t go together — and in the wrong hands, they wouldn’t. But Fu’s design team of Kyla Kazeil, Tricia Firmaniuk and Lulu Garou Designs managed to turn it all into its own unique style. We’d go there even if the food wasn’t great.
This article appears in the Sept/Oct 2023 issue of Edify
